Pre 1914 Poetry :: English Literature

English GCSE Coursework – Pre1914 Poetry How does Hardy portray the themes of loss and loneliness in his poems? I am going to be comparing three of Thomas Hardy’s poems. These poems are: Where The Picnic Was, The Voice and Neutral Tones. Hardy was writing in a time when women could not vote. Women were second-class citizens who mainly stayed in the home. During the time when Hardy was writing, it was very difficult for a woman to divorce a man. The only way the woman would be able to divorce the man was only if she could prove cruelty. However, unlike women, a man could divorce his wife just like that with a minor reason. Thomas Hardy himself believed in marriage but only if people had similar interests. If people grew apart, he believed that they should be allowed to divorce. Hardy married twice in his lifetime. In 1874, Hardy married Emma Lavinia Gifford. She convinced him to start writing. Emma Hardy could not have children but still, Hardy continued the marriage without divorcing. On November 27th 1912, Emma Hardy died after being married for 38 years. Two years later, Hardy married his secretary, Florence Emily Dugdale. She was 35 and he was 74. She acted as his companion and housekeeper. The poems I have chosen to compare were all written after Emma’s death. Where The Picnic Was is basically talking about a picnic he had been on with Emma. He explains how it was in a secluded area were hardly anyone went. The title suggests happy as you normally go for a picnic in summer or spring, it also suggests that he went with someone like family or someone he was in love with, it mainly suggests love, but it also suggest looking back because of the ‘was’ in the title. All the poems do not contain the same content but overall relate to the death of Emma and looking back at good times. The mood of this poem changes as it goes on. In the first verse of the poem, it is a happy mood, but gradually the mood changes in verse 2 and in verse 3, the mood is oriented on the death of Emma and less on natural setting. Happiness in the first verse is shown in this quote. ‘In the summer time’. The sadness in the third verse is shown in this quote, ‘Where no picnics are, And one – has shut her eyes’. This reflects how Hardy is feeling because this is a one of the things he uses to reflect his mood. The theme of this poem is a place of